Chapter 482: Amber, Look at Me
I felt the sun on my skin, but Vito’s presence killed every bit of its warmth. He stood just a few feet away, and something in the way he looked at me made my stomach drop. My body wanted to run. Every instinct I had was screaming at me to move, to get away from him. But when I turned, all I saw was the ocean stretching out behind me, endless and grey. And ahead, the tree line was thick and wild and full of things I didn’t want to meet.
There was nowhere to go. I was on an island, and I had no way off it.
He walked toward me slowly, like he wasn’t in any rush, because he knew he didn’t need to be. When he finally spoke, his voice was low and measured, each word landing with the kind of weight that doesn’t need to be shouted to hurt.
"Anna," he said. "You can’t escape."
I told myself later that I didn’t believe him. But even in that moment, something deep in me already knew he was right.
All I could think to do was soften. I didn’t know what else I had. I kept my voice quiet, the way you do when you’re trying not to set something off.
"Vito, I don’t want to be here. I’m scared. Can you take me away from here?"
He looked at me for a second, and something moved behind his eyes. But it didn’t stay.
"It’s too late, Anna."
He pulled out a small bottle and sprayed something on me , something that smelled sharp and chemical. He said it kept the snakes away. Then he turned and started walking up the mountain, and I had no choice but to follow him.
The path was long and steep and the trees crowded close on both sides. Every few minutes I’d catch movement in the undergrowth, a flash of scales, something sliding between the roots, and I’d freeze up all over again. Each time, I looked to Vito for some sign that he noticed, that he cared. He didn’t slow down once.
By the time we stopped, my legs were burning and my shoes were wet and I was out of breath. I nearly asked him again where we were going. But then I looked up and saw them , rows and rows of dark stone markers, half swallowed by the hillside. Tombstones.
My throat closed.
"What is this place?" My voice came out smaller than I wanted. "Why did you bring me here?"
Vito’s voice didn’t change at all. "Kneel down."
I stared at him. "Why would I do that?"
Before he could answer, Dominic appeared through the trees, carrying his small son in his arms. His eyes were flat when they landed on me, like he’d already made up his mind about everything. "Your family owes a debt," he said. "Kneel, or we’ll put you in the ground with the rest of them."
It wasn’t a threat you argue with. Vito stepped behind me and pressed down on my shoulders, and my knees hit the dirt before my mind had even finished processing what was happening.
"Don’t move," Vito said quietly. "Not unless you want to die."
The stone in front of me had a face carved into it. A man I’d never seen before. I stared at it, trying to understand what I was supposed to feel, what I was supposed to know about this stranger that apparently connected to everything happening to me right now.
Dominic set his son down gently and crouched in front of the nearest headstone. He wiped the surface clean with the back of his hand, talking in a low voice like he was having a private conversation. I caught the name he used , his father. And then, quieter, I heard him say the Sanders.
My family.
The whole thing clicked into place, and I felt cold all over.
They weren’t just after me. This wasn’t about me at all.
I didn’t have my phone. I didn’t know exactly where I was. I was surrounded by ocean and had no way to warn anyone. All I could do was stay still, stay alive, and keep thinking.
Eventually Dominic and the others walked off, disappearing between the markers. I waited until I couldn’t hear their footsteps anymore, then tried to push myself up off the ground. My legs didn’t cooperate. They buckled and gave out, and I went down.
I don’t remember hitting the ground. What I remember is the sensation of not landing the way I expected to , something solid and warm catching me instead. Arms. And then the air moving around me, and the slow rhythm of someone carrying me down the mountain.
I didn’t know it was Vito until later.
When I woke up, the room was quiet and the light had changed. My knees ached only a little, which confused me until I noticed the faint smell of ointment. Someone had cleaned and dressed the scrapes while I was out. On the table beside me sat a plate of food , things I actually liked, not just whatever was on hand.
I sat with that for a moment.
He hadn’t wanted to hurt me. Not really. But he’d done it anyway, and the fact that he’d felt bad about it afterward didn’t undo anything.
I ate every bite. Not because I wasn’t upset, not because I’d forgiven any of it, but because I needed my strength. There were people I loved who were in danger, and I was the only one who knew it. I wasn’t going to fall apart. I cried a little while I chewed, and then I wiped my face and finished the plate.
After, I got up and tried the door. It wasn’t locked.
I walked the halls slowly, carefully, not sure what I was looking for. At the far end of a corridor, one door sat slightly open, and I stopped when I heard a voice coming through the gap. I looked without thinking.
Dominic was on one knee on the floor, which I never would have imagined. The room felt charged and strange. On the bed sat a woman , striking in a way that was hard to look away from, mixed features, long dark hair loose around her shoulders, skin pale enough to look like she hadn’t been outside in weeks. There was a silver chain fastened around her ankle, catching the light.
Dominic’s whole posture was different than anything I’d seen from him before. The hardness was gone. What was left underneath it looked almost like grief.
"Amber," he said. "Look at me."
She looked at him. And then she lifted her foot and kicked him square in the face.
"Go to hell."
